


The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

by adadshi



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adashi Gift Exchange 2019, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, M/M, Mistletoe, Pillow & Blanket Forts, Snow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:55:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22052134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adadshi/pseuds/adadshi
Summary: Adam W. has never been a festive person but this Christmas he decides to make a special effort for his fiancé Shiro.Adashi Gift Exchange 2019 fic for @jayson-the-mage on Tumblr!
Relationships: Adam/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 19





	The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

**Author's Note:**

> this is for @jayson-the-mage on tumblr!! happy holidays!

Winter arrives late this year, only bringing a crisp chill in the third week of December. On the night of the 20th, Adam W. pulls his bedroom curtains closed and goes to bed. When he wakes in the morning, at seven o'clock as always, he pulls the curtains open. It's so dark outside that he can see his reflection in the window. He smiles at himself and goes back to bed, pulling Shiro's strong arm over his torso and wriggling closer to him.

Winter is easily Adam's least favourite season. Snow is an awful, sludgy weapon Keith launches at him and carol singers get on his nerves. Strangers come to his door, asking if he would like to make a donation to save some bizarre, endangered animal this Christmas, and they never accept no as an answer. Even Christmas Day is stressful with all the phone calls from his large family from all over the world- Auntie Anja always spends at least twenty minutes talking to him before asking to be passed over to Shiro, and cousin Sofia makes sure Adam personally wishes a merry Christmas to each of her twelve children. By six o'clock, he's always too exhausted for dinner and crawls back to bed with a stormy grey cloud hanging over his head.

But winter mornings? Oh, he loves them. As the sun gets lazier, rising later and later, Adam lets himself give in. He coughs down the phone to his boss, feigning a sudden illness to get off work early, and allows himself to unwind.

Now, on the morning of December 21st, Adam lies on Shiro's chest, feeling it rise and fall underneath him until he feels lips press against his head. He smiles against the warm skin below him, then wiggles up until he's face to face with Shiro.

"Did it snow last night?"

"Go look for yourself." Adam answers. He doesn't like how cold the bed is without Shiro beside him, but it's sweet to watch him scramble over to the window like an eager child. He pulls back the curtains, leans forward to the window, and pulls back with a big sigh and a puff of air leaving his mouth. No snow yet, then.

Shiro crawls back to bed with a pout.

"When it does snow," he says, "I want to build an igloo, and we can camp out in it."

Adam snorts and pulls the duvet around his shoulders, "Pfft, not in a million years. That sounds like a recipe for disaster. I don’t want hypothermia, Takashi.” Shiro whines.

Shiro eventually gets out of bed, and Adam follows, chasing the heat that radiates from him. He pulls on a big pair of fluffy socks and a hoodie embroidered with the NASA logo. Even with the heating on, it's too cold.

In the kitchen, Adam immediately boils the kettle and pulls out a teacup. Soon Shiro will leave to get the groceries like he does every Saturday and will take his warmth with him. The thought of it makes Adam grumble as he selects a teabag.

"Aw, I thought you were making hot chocolate." Shiro whines once the kettle starts to whistle, "You could at least add a candy cane for festiveness?"

"A candy cane with tea? Ew.”

"Doesn't hurt to try. Make me some too, and we can test it together."

Adam swats his shoulder, "Groceries first, then I'll think about it."

It's lonely without Shiro around. They live in the suburbs, not too far from the city and big stores, but commuting takes a long time. It's worse now because everyone is heading home for the holidays and the streets are bustling with busy shoppers. Adam stirs milk into his tea with a frown.

He settles down in the living room with his drink and a fluffy blanket over his lap. There's tinsel draped over the TV and a few wrapped presents underneath the tree. The twinkling fairy lights are too bright for his liking, but Shiro picked them out and spent so long arranging them on the tree. Looking at them makes him smile.

Although Adam isn't a fan of the festive season, he's fond of Shiro's love of it. He remembers when they first moved in together and how Shiro insisted they bought a fir tree and had it decorated by December 1st. He turned all the radios to the Christmas channels, and Adam was shocked that he knew all of Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" word for word. He didn't understand it, but watching him get excited for Christmas Day was endearing.

Maybe the holiday cheer was spreading to his heart, just a little. Last week he bought a kit for making a gingerbread house, and he keeps on finding himself whistling to "Stop The Cavalry" without meaning to. He hopes that Shiro hasn't noticed.

But maybe it would be nice to be festive. Shiro finds his lack of enthusiasm disappointing, even if he tries to hide it. Adam was quick to ban anything overly Christmassy when they first started living together. They could have a tree, tinsel, fairy lights and presents but that was it. No more. He feels guilty all of a sudden. He's been unfair.

So he phones Keith, begging him to pack an overnight bag and come over.

"The spare room is yours. Spend Christmas with us, Keith. I want to do something kind for Takashi."

It takes a few minutes of pleading and compromising, but Adam wins Keith over. He accepts the invitation and agrees to buy some Christmas decorations. Adam grins victoriously.

He gets to work quickly. If he's going to make a festive wonderland for Shiro, then he'll have to get into the spirit. He connects his phone to a speaker and finds a playlist of Christmas music. The sickly sweet lyrics in Andy Williams' "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" makes him want to gag, but he sucks it up. This is for Shiro. This is the kind thing to do.

Until Keith arrives, Adam spends a long time finding the perfect hot chocolate recipe. He squirts a generous amount of whipped cream on top, then grates chocolate onto it and dips in a candy cane as the finishing touch. Anything more and it would be ridiculous. He uses Keith as his test monkey when he arrives.

"Blegh!" He cries out, "Too sweet. Way too sweet."

"Perfect for Takashi then."

As he promised, Keith brought Christmas decorations with him. He has a paper bag full of sparkly tinsel, scented candles, tree decorations, paper stars and a kit for making a gingerbread house.

"Right," Adam says, his hands planted on his hips, "You toss some tinsel around, and I'll handle everything else."

Giving Keith this role was a big mistake. He must've bought a hundred dollars worth of tinsel because he never seems to run out. He wildly launches it around the house. On the Christmas tree, the fridge, he doesn't even see the danger of putting it on the kitchen hob until Adam yells at him. He swiftly removes the hazard and thinks that's the worst thing Keith could do. He's proven wrong when he goes to the toilet and finds that it's clogged with blue tinsel. He almost tears his hair out in frustration but instead lights the scented candles and watches the wax drip. That makes him feel better.

Shiro comes home while Adam is standing on the arm of the couch and tying the dangling paper stars to the curtain pole.

"Am I dreaming or is that Christmas music I hear?" Adam hears him call out.

"Merry Christmas, Takashi." Adam jumps down from the couch and meets Shiro at the entrance to the living room.

Shiro's eyes sparkle as he takes in the sight. This place has been transformed with just an hour of work. There are twinkling fairy lights strung up around the walls and Christmas cards sent from relatives and neighbours hanging on them. Tinsel is drooping from the ceiling fan, the bookshelf, the mirror, and any other surface Keith could find. The paper stars hanging at the window gracefully twirl. The Chrismas tree looks the most beautiful. There are colourful baubles, ceramic figures and smaller paper stars hanging from its branches.

Adam watches how he reacts to each detail with great satisfaction. Why hadn't be indulged in being festive sooner? The room is beautiful and he's proud to admit it, but it pales in comparison to Shiro.

Shiro is suddenly bombarded with tinsel by Keith. It ruins the serene moment slightly. But he just laughs and throws it back at his brother, starting a short but fierce tinsel war. Adam watches with a grin.

"Let's get started with the gingerbread house before you kill each other." He interrupts them.

Shiro exclaims, "A gingerbread house?"

Adam isn't an expert gingerbread architect like his fiancé, so he mostly sits back and watches the pre-cut pieces being put together. The walls are intricately decorated with colourful candy. It's charming. While Shiro and Keith work on construction, Adam decorates three gingerbread men to look like them. He spends a long time perfecting their gingerbread counterparts, but Shiro and Keith spend even longer with the house. They add in extra details like cinnamon sticks for roofing and candy canes for trees.

They eat the leftover candy for dinner. Adam brushes his teeth with extra vigour as he gets ready for bed afterwards. Shiro is waiting patiently for him in bed, his arms outstretched and ready to cuddle. Adam is very happy to curl up with him.

The days leading up to Christmas are a happy blur. They bake cookies, go ice skating, Adam lets Shiro have free reign and decide on their festive activities. On the morning of December 25th, Adam is disgruntled at being woken so early by Shiro, but any ill will quickly turns into affection. They hold hands as they creep downstairs.

Keith is still asleep in the guest room as they prepare the living room. Adam turns on the fairy lights and straightens up some tinsel while Shiro pulls some extra presents out from underneath the stairs. They are wrapped in shiny gold paper, and their tags are addressed to Keith from Santa Claus. Adam thinks it's sweet that Shiro wants to continue to tradition, even if Keith considers himself too old for it. The presents are neatly spread out underneath the Christmas tree. Shiro calls up to Keith and Adam pulls back the curtains.

"Oh, Takashi." He gasps, “It’s lovely."

Overnight their garden had been transformed. Thick, fluffy snow coats every surface and more is silently drifting down from the white sky. Adam knows that it'll be a pain to clear from the driveway, but it's impossible to ignore its beauty. There's a lot of snow but not enough to build an igloo as Shiro wanted.

Adam decides that this will be the best Christmas ever. He sits curled up on the couch, close to Shiro and his warmth, as Keith unwraps presents. Candles, video games, books, Shiro thought of everything for his brother. Adam asked for no presents this year, but Shiro still went out of his way to find a few small gifts for him. Adam makes himself tea in his new teacup and wears the fluffy Christmas jumper for the entire day.

When the phone rings, Adam doesn't answer it. He's not going to exhaust himself by talking to Auntie Anja and cousin Sofia. He stuffs the phone underneath a cushion and ignores it for the rest of the day. He stops hearing the muffled ringing halfway through dinner. The three of them watch a movie before bed and Adam sends a quick text to his extended family wishing them a merry Christmas.

As they go upstairs to bed, Adam notices that Shiro is disappointed that there isn't enough snow outside to build an igloo. He keeps looking out to the snowy garden with a look of longing. A part of Adam is glad that he won't be camping out in the cold tonight, but he can't stand looking at that pouty face. His heart melts, and he squeezes Shiro's shoulder.

"Can you go downstairs and check the doors are locked? I forgot to do it earlier." He asks. Shiro nods and trots back down the stairs. The second he's out of sight, Adam bolts to their room and begins to drag blankets out from underneath the bed. He has no idea how igloos are made, but he thinks of it as a birds nest. He arranges the blankets on the mattress in a circle and layers them up until there's a wall forming. It's quick and messy, and he can't manage to make a roof, but he hopes Shiro will appreciate it.

Just as he finishes throwing their duvet over the blanket igloo, Shiro comes back. Adam steps away from the bed.

"Since you couldn't have a snow igloo." His explanation is pitiful, but Shiro doesn't seem to care. He dashes over to Adam and wraps him into a big hug.

"Thank you." Shiro says, "You're the sweetest, you know that? I love you."

"I love you too," Adam says into his shoulder. He feels one of Shiro's hands leave, and he pulls back in confusion. He looks up.

"No. No way. I'm not doing the mistletoe kiss." He tries to grab the mistletoe from Shiro, but he keeps it out of reach.

"Please, Adam! It's tradition!"

Shiro lowers it again and pouts slightly. Adam thinks about it for a moment and then presses a kiss to Shiro's cheek.

"There."

"Thank you, Adam." Shiro laughs. Adam shakes his head with a smile and goes to bed, curling up among the blankets.

"Go brush your teeth, Takashi. I want you to try out or blanket igloo."

Adam listens to Shiro patter around in the bathroom and feels his eyes start to droop. Being festive is tiring. But it's nice too, it makes him feel warm inside, and there's nothing like seeing Shiro's eyes light up when he's admiring the Christmas tree. He feels the mattress dip and then Shiro's warm arm around his waist. He closes his eyes and falls asleep, the snow outside still silently falling.


End file.
